Grilled Portabello and Chicken Salad with Cheddar Jalapeño Spoonbread

Every once and a while a dish is created simply because I’ve thrown a meal together out of the current contents of my fridge. Who am I kidding? Most of our meals are thrown together from scraps of this and leftovers of that. We are not wasteful people. We eat leftovers. That’s right. This is often a bad thing because we may really like the dish but it can never be recreated because I may never have that exact combination of leftovers again. Sigh. And then there was this meal… all you need is leftover homemade mayonnaise. Really. That’s the only leftover in the thing!

Gather together the following ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 Portabello mushrooms
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Favorite steak rub (ours is Howling Dog)
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper

In a bowl, coat raw chicken breasts in Worcestershire sauce and then sprinkle them with your favorite steak rub. Set aside.

Crush the garlic cloves and place in a skillet with the olive oil. Heat until the garlic begins to turn golden. Remove from heat.

Using a vegetable brush, coat the mushrooms with the garlic olive oil then sea salt and pepper to taste. set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Gather the following ingredients together:

• 1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• jalapeño peppers to taste
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk

Get a cast iron skillet very warm with a few spoonfuls of olive oil. Mix the ingredients together until just blended. Spoon the mixture into the very warm skillet and then place in the oven. Bake 18-20 minutes.

Get plates ready with romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese, red onion slices, pecans, and sliced red bell peppers (I like to use roasted peppers). There’s certainly room for creativity here so throw in what you like. I know you have excellent taste so I’m not worried!

Meanwhile, place the chicken breasts on the grill. Flip after five minutes. Throw the Portabello mushrooms on the grill (be careful of flames) and flip after three minutes. Flip the chicken. Let cook 3-5 minutes until done.

At this point, you could simply assemble your salad by slicing the chicken and mushrooms and pulling the Ranch dressing from the fridge OR you can make your own dressing (it doesn’t take long).

Gather together the following ingredients:

• Mayonniase
• Dijon mustard
• Balsamic vinegar
• red pepper flakes
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Throw a few dollops of mayonnaise with about half as much mustard. Add a jigger or two of Balsamic vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Toss some red pepper flakes in and mix. Voila!

You could hook me up with an IV of this dressing and I won’t complain!

After all… who said salad had to be boring? Why not spice it up with a little protein and flavor?

“Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know which one I’m taking with me when I go.” -Erma Bombeck

Which spice would you take? I can’t decide!

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